Yaakov Weksler: At 35 He Discovered He is Jewish, Today He Celebrates His Bar Mitzvah

Last week, Yaakov Weksler (b. 1943) had his Bar Mitzvah in the Yad Vashem Synagogue. A former Polish Catholic priest, Yaakov (formerly Romuald Waszkinel) discovered at age 35 that he was in fact the son of Jews killed in the Holocaust. In the hopes of saving their infant son’s life, […]

The Oświęcim Synagogue, also called the Auschwitz Synagogue, is the only active synagogue in the town of Oświęcim, Poland.

The Oświęcim Synagogue, also called the Auschwitz Synagogue, is the only active synagogue in the town of Oświęcim, Poland. The formal, as well as pre-war, the name of the synagogue is Chevra Loymdei Mishnayot. The Synagogue was built circa 1913 and functioned until the German occupation. During the war, its […]

The Łańcut Synagogue is a Baroque synagogue in Łańcut, Poland.

The synagogue is a rare surviving example of the four-pillar, vaulted synagogues that were built throughout the Polish lands in both wood and masonry from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries. The synagogue is one of the precious monuments of sacred art. It was erected in 1761 to replace […]

The Bimah (a podium in the synagogue from which Torah is read) of the Old Synagogue of Tarnow, Poland is all that remains of a brick synagogue built in 1661 and burned down by Nazis on 9th of November 1939.

The original structure, most likely made of wood, was vulnerable to fire. Frequent conflagration urged the Jewish society to replace existing construction with a brick building. The remained Bimah is composed of four pillars carrying square block. The ceiling was covered with stucco. Small pieces of the decoration are still […]

“The woman on the left is my grandmother, Eva Kostre. Born in Poland, she is a survivor of Auschwitz and Ravensbruck concentration camps.”

“This picture was taken in a displaced persons camp about a year after she was liberated. She performed in plays as a way of lifting the moral of other survivors. Although my grandmother believes it’s important to remember the past, she also understands the importance of moving forward and celebrating […]

? The Tempel Synagogue is a synagogue in Kraków, Poland which was built in 1860 and was ruined during World War II by the German Nazis, who used the building as an ammunition storage area.

After the war, it was used again for prayers. In 1947, a mikvah was built in the northern part of the synagogue. It is still active today, although formal prayers are held only a few times a year. Wishing you all #ShabbatShalom! Source: GO Kosher Travel, Photo: Bentzi Sasson

“Today at JFK airport, I met Max Glauben, an 89 year old man from Dallas, Texas who survived six concentration camps during the Holocaust.”

“On this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Max is going on his twelveth March of the Living International trip, an annual educational tour through Poland and Israel, sharing his story with thousands of participants from all over the world. On his jacket he listed all the years he participated on March […]

“I lived in Poland, so we were persecuted from the first day of the war. First they took us from our home, then they put us in a ghetto, then they made us march, then they sent us to the camps.”

“I was separated from everyone, but my brother later told me that my father froze to death. But I have children now, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren– a great big family, all of them educated. Look at everything that came from just one person who escaped. Just goes to show […]

“A photographer from the New York Daily News captured this photo of my grandmother, carrying my 11-month-old mother and her twin sister, on the day they arrived in New York after leaving Europe in July 1949.”

“My grandparents, Leon and Lodja Bloch, both Holocaust survivors originally from Poland, met and married in Germany after being liberated from the camps. A photographer from the New York Daily News captured this photo of my grandmother, carrying my 11-month-old mother and her twin sister, on the day they arrived […]